After returning the car in Avignon and dropping my bag by my new hotel, I hopped a bus out to Pont du Gard, another ancient Roman sight; in this case a bridge transporting an aqueduct over the Gardon river. I had hoped to visit here on my first day, along with Nîmes since they are relatively close, but the transportation connections were a bit challenging. But leaving before noon from Avignon allowed me to spend a little over an hour out at the sight before catching another bus to Nîmes where I could a train back to Avignon. Whew. But it was either that, or spend 5+ hours out at the sight, which was way too long.
The bus from Avignon dropped me at a traffic circle in the middle of nowhere with nary a bridge, river or ancient Roman rock in sight. But the bus driver spoke excellent English, so I was confident that I was in the right place and eventually found the visitor’s center after a brisk 5 minute walk.The Pont du Gard is a bridge built in the first century AD by the Romans to deliver water via aqueduct to Nîmes. That was before the invention of mortar, so all of the stones used in its construction fit together tightly enough to have survived almost 2000 years. The primary arch is the largest ever built by the Romans. An adjoining 18th century bridge was still in use for road traffic until just recently.
The ride back was almost overly interesting, as well. There was a bus stop closer in to the sight, next to the parking lot. It had a schedule that showed a convenient bus directly back to Avignon. Luckily I enquired with the parking lot attendant, though, because apparently that bus stop & schedule weren’t currently in use.After eventually returning to Avignon, it was laundry day. Yay. In the evening I had an especially tasty dinner nearby my hotel (Caveau du Theatre). The entrée was a “crumble” of ratatouille served with an olive tapenade. Much yummy. Unfortunately, I missed judged on my main plate. While tasty, it did a number on my stomach overnight. And I had to get up at 5am and wouldn’t reach my next hotel until approximately 3pm. No more mystery curries on travel days.